Columns

This is the first of a three-part series on how new demographic, economic and political trends are changing South Carolina.

A New South Carolina is being born.
You can see evidence of it in a recent Time Magazine special issue featuring the 100 Most Influential. There are four South Carolinians in the magazine – two were chosen among the 100 Most Influential and two were chosen to write short profiles. Who they are and what they wrote says a lot about our state and who we are becoming – the New South Carolina.

The end of every September, the Lancaster County Treasurer’s Office mails out property tax bills for real estate (homes and commercial buildings) and personal property (boats, business furniture and equipment, manufacturing, etc.).
This year, because of revaluation and needing time for appeals, we will be mailing out those notices Nov. 1.

The beauty of America is that we are a melting pot. People come from all over the world seeking the opportunities and freedoms that we, as Americans, take for granted.
Of course, there are times when we fall short of living up to the principles and ideals that led to the founding of our country, but it is in those times that we must be strong and stand together. After all, if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand (Mark 3:25).

As Benjamin Franklin didn’t quite say, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes and university tuition increases.”
How much has university tuition gone up since 2006? According to data from the Commission on Higher Education, instate tuition at Clemson, the University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston has gone up over 48 percent in the last 10 years.

In Monday night’s presidential debate, Hillary Clinton once again made the oft repeated claim of the anti-gun crowd that “we have too many military-style assault weapons on the streets.”
The problem with this statement is that it is a lie.
The military does not use semi-automatic firearms on the field of battle.

Nothing is more infuriating than seeing another news story about the arrogance, incompetence or corruption that characterizes politics as usual in South Carolina. There were three such stories in only the last few weeks.
What’s most infuriating is that none of this needs to happen and there are a few simple solutions that could prevent many of these problems or fix them once they occur.

Editor’s note: Malik Mackey grew up in Lancaster. He is a 2015 graduate of Lancaster High School and a former class president. He is a sophomore political science major at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

I get so tired of turning on the news and feeling as though my blackness is a handicap that is hindering America. As if we’re a cancer that is killing this country.

Editor’s note: Rudy Barnes Jr. will be on our Nov. 8 ballot as a candidate for the 5th Congressional District, representing the American Party of South Carolina. According to his website, Barnes practices law in Little Mountain, near Newberry. He graduated from The Citadel and has a master’s in public administration and a law degree from the University of South Carolina. He is a retired United Methodist minister and a retired Army colonel who once served on the Columbia City Council.

In the most recent year for which data is available, a review by The Nerve has found, S.C. state government collected $2.4 billion in sales tax revenue – but exempted a full $3 billion.
That’s the opposite of what one would expect to find. In most forms of taxes, only a few items are exempt, and in a typical year a typical state would take in far more than it would exempt. It’s a simple matter of government needing revenue: Lawmakers are reluctant to dole out too many exemptions since that means less revenue.

One important reason that Donald Trump is not qualified to hold the office of president of the United States is his lack of experience.
All 38 men who were elected to the position, as well as the five who were promoted due to the death or resignation of the serving president, had previously held high-ranking public service positions in either the government or military.